20 May 2020 :

The High Court’s Tainan branch on 15 May 2020 overturned a death sentence on rape and murder charges against Hsieh Chih-hung based on new findings from the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office after it restarted the investigation.
Hsieh was accused of being an accomplice to Kuo Chun-wei in the murder of a woman surnamed Chen, 18, and a man surnamed Chang, 68, on 24 June 2000.
After first being found guilty in October 2001, Hsieh and Kuo had their verdicts and death sentences upheld in seven subsequent retrials, during which Hsieh maintained his innocence and said that his confession resulted from torture.
In September 2018, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, citing new evidence that proved Hsieh’s innocence, filed for a retrial.
The High Court on 14 March last year accepted the petition and ordered Hsieh’s sentence to be temporarily suspended.The court then granted a request to release Hsieh from the Tainan Detention Center, where he had been held since 2001, and began to hear the new case presented by prosecutors, before delivering the verdict on 15 May.
The decision stated that because the police had not recorded either of Hsieh’s interrogation sessions and could provide little to no corroborating material, the interrogation was in breach of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Hsieh’s confession could therefore not be used as evidence, it said.
Kuo had accused Hsieh of being his accomplice and passed polygraph testing, but the court said that the testing should only point to Kuo’s credibility and not be considered proof of it.
Given that Kuo was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, the court dismissed the polygraph results.
A coroner’s examination of the victims’ bodies found wounds of various depths and stated that it was possible that there might have been more than one perpetrator, but it is reasonable that Kuo committed both murders, the court said.
The collegiate bench convened to preside over the case on 15 May cited these reasons as grounds for finding Hsieh innocent.

07 April 2020 :

The Taiwan High Court on 7 April 2020 overturned the death penalty for a man convicted of raping, killing and dismembering a woman in the Huashan Grassland in Taipei in 2018, and instead sentenced him to life in prison.
In its ruling, the High Court said it had reduced the lower court's sentence in view of the fact that Chen Po-chien, a 39-year-old archery instructor, had turned himself into police after he was listed as suspect in the murder.
Family members of the victim, surnamed Kao, were furious upon hearing the sentence, which they said did not meet the expectations of the public, and they said they would appeal, TVBS News reported.
Defendant Chen Po-chien was indicted in August 2018 on charges of sexual assault and murder in addition to abandonment and destruction of a corpse.
According to prosecutors, Kao signed up for Chen’s archery class, and on 31 May 2018 they consumed alcohol together. Chen admitted that he tried to rape Kao while she was sleeping, and he explained that her resistance upon waking stirred him to further violence.
Chen strangled Kao, dismembered her body, and scattered it around a remote part of Yangmingshan National Park. He then spent all of the money he found in Kao's purse, according to the indictment.
The defendant admitted to murder and other crimes during the investigation but denied having raped Kao. However, during the trial, Chen recanted his confession and claimed that Kao was killed by a Taiwanese man named "Eric," insisting he only helped dismember and dispose of the body.
The implausible story was dismissed by the court, and Chen was convicted on multiple counts and sentenced to death on 5 August 2019.
During the sentencing at the second trial, High Court judge Lien Yu-chun said that the behavior of the accused justifies the death sentence but that his confession can be considered a mitigating factor.

01 December 2020 :

A woman who killed her young son and daughter before attempting suicide earlier this year was sentenced to death by the New Taipei District Court on 25 November 2020, for a crime described by the court as "extremely cruel and cold-blooded."
The 30-year-old woman, surnamed Wu, was a single mother who raised an 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son on her own after a divorce.
On 13 February this year, after an argument with her brother and his wife, Wu drove her children to a motel in New Taipei's Wugu District to stay overnight. While in the room that night, she attempted to suffocate the children with pillows, but failed as they fought back, according to the court.
Two days later, however, Wu drugged her children with sleeping pills before strangling them with a rope in the motel. She later texted her ex-husband a message that read: "I'm gone. I'm going to be with the kids, or they will feel lonely," according to the court.
Wu's ex-husband rushed to the motel only to find his children dead and Wu lethargic after taking sleeping pills, antidepressant drugs and alcohol. Wu was rushed to the hospital and treated.
During the trial, Wu confessed to committing the murders, saying that she had felt overwhelmed with the burden of caring for two children on her own.
In its verdict, the court wrote that Wu had committed the "extremely cruel and cold-blooded" murders solely because of stress and dissatisfaction with her personal circumstances, and had failed to show any sign of remorse for her crimes.
While acknowledging that there is an ongoing debate over capital punishment in Taiwanese society, the court said it had a responsibility to uphold the "inherent right to life" guaranteed to every child, citing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In response to the ruling, Wu's defense lawyer, Liao Hui-fang, wrote in a Facebook post on 26 November that the court had ignored mitigating factors in her client's personal life, and had imposed the death penalty out of deference to public opinion.
The verdict can be appealed.

02 April 2020 :

A death row inmate was executed on 1st April 2020 in Taiwan, less than a year after he was convicted of killing six people by setting fire to his home.
Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang said he signed the order, and the death sentence was carried out on 1st April afternoon in New Taipei.
The 53-year-old inmate Weng Jen-hsien was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court on 10 July 2019 after he was convicted in the deaths of his parents, their caregiver, his niece and nephew, and the latter's wife.
According to the court, Weng set fire to his home in Taoyuan City's Longtan District on 7 February 2016 after a family feud, and the six died in the blaze, while four other relatives sustained injuries.
Currently, there are 39 inmates on death row in Taiwan, and the last execution before Weng's was on 31 August 2018.
It was Taiwan's second execution of a prisoner since President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party took office in 2016.
Prior to that, in the eight years of the previous administration led by then President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang, 33 death row inmates were executed.

10 December 2020 :

Taiwan's government should correct the numerous procedural problems in the way the death penalty is carried out, Taiwan's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on 10 December 2020, Human Rights Day.
The remark was part of the NHRC's independent opinion report which addresses issues raised in Taiwan's third national human rights report, published in June this year by the Executive Yuan.
The government report reviewed Taiwan's implementation of two United Nations human rights covenants -- the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - from 2015 to 2019.
In contrast, the NHRC report focuses more on human rights issues the government should continue to work on, the commission said.
In terms of the death penalty, the NHRC said there are numerous procedural problems with how the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) implements the punishment, such as not allowing enough time for inmates to file appeals and the lack of clear rules on the respective responsibilities of prison staff and court bailiffs.
The MOJ also executes inmates even in cases where they have applied for a presidential pardon but have not yet received a response, which contravenes with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the NHRC said.
The MOJ should, therefore, conduct a comprehensive review of its procedures regarding the death penalty, the NHRC said.
The 10-member NHRC was established in August this year and is overseen by the Control Yuan. The body is made up of eight Control Yuan members, who are nominated by the president, and two members nominated by other members of the commission.
The commission is responsible for reviewing complaints of abuses and discrimination and advising government agencies on related policy making issues, but its proposals are advisory in nature.

19 July 2020 :

Taiwan has released new procedures for carrying out capital punishment -- including preventing the condemned from seeing their executioner -- but rights activists said on 16 July 2020 the move merely whitewashes a barbaric practice.
The island has carried out 35 executions since a moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in 2010 -- with the last being in April of a 53-year-old man convicted of killing his parents. 
In Taiwan, the death penalty is carried out by gunshot.
"The death penalty is a brutal and inhumane method of punishment... it's absurd to discuss how to enforce it in more humane ways," said Chiu E-ling, director of Amnesty International Taiwan. 
Media reports say the condemned are first given a powerful sedative before being laid face-down and shot in the heart through the back.
Under measures passed by the cabinet this week, the condemned must now be hooded during the process.
They will also be allowed to hold final religious rituals as well as leave a farewell voice or video message for their families.
Executions are currently carried out without notice once all appeals have been exhausted.  
Local media said the new rules were designed to make executions "more humane".
Lin Hsin-yi, executive director of Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty, urged the government of President Tsai Ing-wen to make good a promise to abolish capital punishment.
"There is no humane way to carry out the death penalty. It shouldn't be carried out anymore," she said. 

14 July 2020 :

Death row inmates will soon be required to wear a hood when they are being executed to make the job of the executioner less traumatic, according to new rules announced by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) that will take effect on 15 July 2020.
At present, it is not compulsory for a prisoner to wear a hood during his or her execution.
The new rule is among amendments to the Death Penalty Procedural Rules recently made by the MOJ. They are administrative rules and therefore do not have to be approved by the Legislature.
A MOJ official who spoke on condition of anonymity told CNA that the new requirement on hoods was proposed by the judicial and prison police officers union. Judicial police officers are responsible for carrying out executions in Taiwan.
Being an executioner is an extremely stressful job that requires comprehensive training beforehand and psychological consultations afterwards, according to the official, which is why the ministry agreed to the new rule.
A judicial police officer responsible for executions told CNA on condition of anonymity that one of the major taboos of being an executioner is to see the person being executed "eye to eye."
Amending the rules to require a prisoner to wear a hood will lower the chances of that happening, said the officer, who noted that judicial officers get NT$3,000 (US$100) added to their salary when they carry out an execution.
Another amendment to the rules requires the MOJ to consider other execution options to make executions more humane in accordance with related international covenants on human rights.
The Death Penalty Procedural Rules currently stipulate that capital punishment be carried out either by lethal injection or by shooting.
In practice, however, Taiwan has executed all of its death row inmates by shooting since the rules first took effect in 2002.
According to the rules, the person to be executed is first injected with a strong anesthetic to leave him or her unconscious before a single shooter, an on-duty judicial police officer, fires a pistol at the back of the prisoner's heart.
If the prisoner consents to donate his or her organs, then the bullet is fired at the prisoner's brain.
A new provision added to the rules is that a prisoner about to be executed can leave a last message by audio or video recording, but it cannot last longer than 10 minutes.
The message is to be delivered to a designated family member or next of kin within 24 hours of the execution.
Religious rituals can be held before the person's execution based on his or her religious beliefs, the new rules said.
The MOJ will hold a round of discussions with related experts and NGO groups on 13 July before the amendments are scheduled to take effect on 15 July.
Taiwan has a total of 38 death row inmates, with the most recent execution conducted on April 1.

24 June 2020 :

A man who raped and killed a female model in Taipei's Nangang District in 2017 avoided a death sentence in a second trial that concluded on 23 June 2020.
In February 2017, Cheng Yu invited a 23-year-old woman surnamed Chen to a photoshoot to take place in early March. Cheng used his then-girlfriend's Facebook account to send the invitation.
On the day of the photoshoot, Cheng took Chen to the basement of a building, where he raped and strangled her. Cheng stole the victim's cell phone and credit cards, which he later used to make purchases.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Cheng. In the first trial, the Shilin District Court sentenced Cheng to life in prison for the murder.
In order to overturn that sentence in pursuit of the death penalty, an appeal was issued to the Taiwan High Court, and the judges delivered their verdict on 23 June, turning it down. Those who still wish to seek the death penalty for Cheng can take the further step of applying for a Supreme Court hearing.
High Court Spokeswoman Wang Ping-hsia said that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights have been internalized in Taiwan's law and that Cheng's acts were undeserving of a death sentence. Wang also cited an expert's psychological assessment of Cheng, which indicated that careful supervision would reduce the possibility of recidivism; therefore, the court held that it was not necessary to pursue capital punishment.

21 April 2020 :

One week after Taiwan saw its second execution during the tenure of President Tsai Ing-wen, a coalition of NGOs, lawyers, and academics sent her a petition for a presidential pardon for another inmate — Chiou Ho-shun, who over three decades ago was sentenced to death on the basis of confessions extracted through torture during police interrogations, Taiwan News reported on 18 April 2020.
In 1988, police arrested a man in connection with the abduction and disappearance of nine-year-old Lu Cheng. The suspect then named Chiou and 10 others, all of whom initially proclaimed their innocence. But within days, all 12 had admitted not only to murdering the boy in a botched ransom but also to a previously unsolved murder and dismemberment of a woman.
The police continued their interrogations of the suspects until they had secured no less than 288 confessions, which were submitted to the court as evidence, ultimately forming the basis for Chiou's death sentence in 1989.
Chiou later recanted his confessions, which he and his co-defendants said were extracted after numerous, prolonged periods of torture while being held incommunicado.
The abuses were confirmed in the 1994 conviction of two officers involved in the torture sessions. To this day, there exists no physical evidence connecting the accused with the murders.
Nevertheless, the majority of the confessions — the ones that came from interrogations without recorded evidence of physical abuse — continued to be considered in court, even as Taiwan moved beyond its martial law period, carrying out ever fewer death sentences in the early 2000s.
And in each of Chiou's appeals, from his first to his 12th and final in 2011, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.

15 April 2020 :

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic on 9 April 2020 ruled that eight Taiwanese charged with being involved in cross-border telecom fraud cannot be extradited to the People’s Republic of China.
The applicants disputed the previous decisions of the general courts authorizing their extradition, claiming that if the extradition is realized, there is a real risk that they would be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
They referred to the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and the European Convention on Human Rights, which established the prohibition of torture as an absolute and non-derogable fundamental right.
These documents impose on a state the obligation not to extradite a foreign national, if they might be exposed to the real risk of torture or other forms of ill-treatment — the principle of non-refoulement.
The constitutional court’s assessment was based on answering two fundamental questions.
First, is there a real risk that applicants would be tortured or subjected to ill-treatment in China? Second, have the Chinese authorities provided sufficient diplomatic assurance that these applicants would not be tortured or subjected to ill-treatment?
The court evaluated a number of documents relating to the situation in China that have been elaborated on by the Czech authorities and international bodies.
These documents emphasized that cases of inhuman and degrading treatment or torture have been regularly reported in China over the past five years; that the judicial system is not independent, but is entirely subject to control by the Chinese Communist Party; and that torture is an integral part of the Chinese criminal justice system in which the criminal charge is based on a forced confession.
In addition, the court highlighted cases of ill-treatment in Chinese prisons due to poor prison conditions.
The Czech Republic received several assurances from Chinese authorities, such as that the death penalty would not be imposed or that consular personnel would be permitted to speak to those extradited to China.
However, there was no guarantee of private conversations with applicants without the presence of other persons.
The court held that in the case where the state tolerates a systematic violation of human rights, it is rather problematic to believe that diplomatic guarantees are being respected.